Open Beta Billing Update: What Changes on 1 July 2026
5/20/2026
Hey there! Laura and Heidi here from SCRNIFY!
We want to share a clear update about billing during the SCRNIFY open beta. Nothing changes today: SCRNIFY stays free during open beta until 1 July 2026.
After that date, billing starts for usage above the free allowances. We built this around the same idea Scrnify has had from the beginning: no subscription tiers, no monthly minimums, no surprise package upgrades. You pay for what you use.
Try the SCRNIFY open beta and review current pricing.
What Changes on 1 July 2026?
Starting on 1 July 2026, API captures will use the new billing rules:
- Open beta remains the product status
- Usage billing starts after the free allowances
- The rate is 0.008 EUR per usage unit
- One screenshot equals one usage unit
- One second of video equals one usage unit
- Cached captures stay free
- Failed captures do not count
If you only use Scrnify lightly, you may not need billing details right away. The first lifetime usage allowance still gives you room to test the API before connecting billing.
What Is a Usage Unit?
A usage unit is our simple way to keep image and video pricing consistent.
| Capture type | Usage units |
|---|---|
| 1 screenshot | 1 unit |
| 5-second video | 5 units |
| 60-second video | 60 units |
So if you capture one PNG screenshot, that is 1 usage unit. If you capture a 10-second MP4 video, that is 10 usage units.
This matches the way the service uses browser time and infrastructure. Screenshots are quick. Videos take longer. Counting video by second keeps pricing predictable.
Free Until 1 July 2026
Until billing starts, all successful captures are free. You can keep testing screenshots, videos, selectors, caching, and signed URLs without usage charges.
We are also skipping Stripe usage metering before 1 July 2026. That means usage before the billing start date will not accidentally turn into an invoice.
First 100 Lifetime Usage Units Are Free
After billing starts, every account gets 100 lifetime usage units before billing information is required.
This is meant for testing and small integrations. You can create an API key, send real capture requests, and verify that Scrnify fits your workflow before you connect billing.
One important detail: if a request starts while you still have free lifetime usage left, the whole request is free. For example, if you have 5 free lifetime units left and request a 10-second video, that request is still free. Future requests will require billing once the allowance is used.
First 100 Usage Units per Billing Period Are Free
Once billing is active, Stripe handles the monthly billing cycle. In each Stripe billing period, the first 100 usage units are free.
That means light recurring usage can stay very low cost, while larger workloads still use the same pay-as-you-go rate.
Example list pricing before monthly free allowance:
| Usage | List price |
|---|---|
| 500 screenshots | 4.00 EUR |
| 5,000 screenshots | 40.00 EUR |
| 15,000 screenshots | 120.00 EUR |
| 60-second video | 0.48 EUR |
Your actual bill depends on free allowances and your Stripe billing period.
Cached Captures Stay Free
Caching is still encouraged. If a capture is served from cache, it does not consume usage units and is not sent to billing.
For repeated captures of the same page state, use cache_ttl where it makes sense:
const params = new URLSearchParams({
key: 'YOUR_API_KEY',
url: 'https://example.com',
type: 'image',
format: 'png',
width: '1920',
height: '1080',
cache_ttl: '3600',
})
const response = await fetch(`https://api.scrnify.com/capture?${params.toString()}`)
This is especially useful for previews, scheduled snapshots, and content that does not change every second.
What Happens If Billing Is Required?
If your account has used the free lifetime allowance and billing is not active, the API returns 402 Payment Required.
For JSON responses, you will see an error like this:
{
"error": "billing_required",
"message": "Billing required after 100 free lifetime usage units. Visit /billing."
}
You can connect billing from the dashboard. Billing setup is optional before 1 July 2026, but you can connect it early if you want everything ready.
Why We Are Doing This
Scrnify runs real browsers for every fresh capture. That means compute, bandwidth, storage, and queue capacity all matter. We want pricing that reflects actual usage without forcing everyone into fixed monthly plans.
Pay-as-you-go fits screenshot and video capture well because usage is often uneven. Some teams capture a few pages per week. Others batch thousands of captures during a deploy or reporting run. A single rate keeps both cases easy to understand.
Quick Summary
- SCRNIFY stays in open beta
- Everything is free until 1 July 2026
- Billing starts after that date
- One screenshot = one usage unit
- One video second = one usage unit
- First 100 lifetime usage units are free
- First 100 usage units per Stripe billing period are free with active billing
- Cached and failed captures do not count
- Rate after free allowances: 0.008 EUR per usage unit
If you have questions or spot something confusing, email us at support@scrnify.com. We want billing to be as boring and predictable as possible.